Koss SP540 Unbox and initial impressions

[Antpage]

Koss 150$ headphone. Their highest priced headphones other than the estats for audiophile. Every other headphone ive seen at Koss is either for the studio, gaming, or wireless.

These headphones are awesome! I love them. They sound fantastic. need burn-in. Warm headphones, bassy with slam. Good treble not harsh. Good midrange. really awesome imaging and soundstage. nice rich sound. competes with other headphones in the price range imo. very lively and engaging. Much better than the kphi30’s imo.

Build is a little cheap. It is a Koss. But feels and looks nice. The plastic has a rubberized look and feel to them. Its size is a little bigger than the CAL’s, perfect for on the go. Over ear but fit my ears snugly but comfortable. D shaped cups. Might need pad swap I think since stock pads are a little shallow. Not sure what pads would fit this. Stock pads come on a plastic ring that snaps on and off the cup. Detachable cable.

Koss if this is what you can do on entry level audiophile headphones please continue to bring it on with higher priced models.

[ProfFalkin]

Thanks for the write up, I had not known of these before you posted.

[pennstac]

They look like they might be more comfortable than I expect from Koss for full-size headphones. Their Pro-4A and Pro-4AA models were heavy and had awful pads (they always were shallow, but seemed to be semi-pneumatic), along with a clamping force that Uncle Fester could use for his headaches.

Are these closed back? What’s the deal with that detachable panel? Is there much sound leakage in either direction?

[Antpage]

Yes they are closed back. its just like a lot of headphone pads that come attached to a plastic ring. Isolation seems good

[ValentineLuke]

@Antpage

Koss if this is what you can do on entry level audiophile headphones please continue to bring it on with higher priced models.

I’ve wished for a true TOTL from Koss as well. They make really good sounding headphones.

Nice write up.

[mshenay]

That more expensive eStat [which imo buy the Drop Variant] is still one of my favorite headphones despite having a pricey 009 system,

Tho I’d like to see Koss really scale up to compete with Senn honestly… given how well 95X[0] and stuff like this does they must have engineers capable of it

[ValentineLuke]

The Koss e-stat is a great headphone. I keep flirting with the idea of picking one up. I hear they take eq very well which would help with the lite-for-me bass.

[prfallon69]

Nice writeup.

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[SenyorC]

Interesting, thanks for sharing @Antpage

[aldarrin]

The 95X is great, except whatever wizardry keeps static noise at bay with modern eStats is either missing or poorly applied (to my pair at least). Could use the lifetime warranty for replacement, but others have said the problem comes back anyway (and the fix is to ground out each pin to clear the charge, simple and quick). It’s like a baby L700 (I only have 95X and L700 on hand for comparison).

[Stoneager90]

Nice to see someone else grabbed a pair of these! They do a good job of being warm and bassy without overpowering mids and highs, definitely v shaped. I think they’re less veiled than my k712s with the stock velour pads but they are a very closed headphone. I agee with you that pads needing to be swapped. The D shaped cup is a bit of an issue when it comes to finding an easy swap, but the existing pads can be slid off the plastic base and I’m thinking of trying to slide on some brainwavz oval pads. The nice thing is that factory replacements are like $10 so if they old pads don’t survive they’re cheap to replace.